MILF gears up for Bangsamoro polls, bucks another extension of transition period
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 24 September) – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has rejected the proposal to extend again the interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) beyond June 30, 2025, as it geared to participate in the historic parliamentary elections in May 2025.
Ahod “Al haj Murad” Ebrahim, interim chief minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and MILF chairperson, said that they are not keen in another extension of the BTA, the body tasked to government the transition period in the Bangsamoro region.
”We are not entertaining extension proposals,” he said in a short briefing on the first day of the MILF consultative meeting held at the front’s Camp Darapanan on Monday, September 23, in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.
The theme of the consultative assembly is “Transforming MILF into social movements.”
Last week, Member of Parliament Michael Midtimbang filed two resolutions at the BTA seeking to reschedule the parliamentary election in the region, which in effect will extend the life of the transition authority.
He filed the resolutions in the wake of the Supreme Court decision removing Sulu from the Bangsamoro region.
The first resolution urges both the Senate and the House of Representatives to reschedule the elections in the BARMM.
“This postponement would provide ample time to amend BAA (Bangsamoro Autonomy Act) No. 58, the regional law that governs the creation of parliamentary districts,” he said.
He cited that BAA No. 58 does not anymore adequately account for the distribution of seven district representatives from Sulu.
This after the Supreme Court favored the appeal of Sulu not to be included in the BARMM, Midtimbang said.
During the 2019 plebiscite Sulu, had rejected inclusion to the Bangsamoro region.
The second resolution called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the period for the filing of certificates of candidacy, which Midtimbang believed will give additional time to facilitate greater participation from potential candidates to reflect the diverse population within BARMM.
“The primary goal of these resolutions is to ensure that the foundational structures of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, which is the implementing law of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), be followed and upheld,” Midtimbang stressed.
The Comelec has set the filing of certificates of candidacy for the simultaneous mid-term national, local and Bangsamoro parliament elections in May 2025 from October 1 to 8.
BARMM voters will elect 80 members of the parliament composed of 40 party representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives. The elected members will then vote among themselves the chief minister.
Ebrahim still top MILF choice
Bangsamoro Education Minister Mohagher Iqbal, one of the top brasses of the MILF Central Committee who headed the front’s peace panel and also its information chief, said that if the MILF candidates will dominate the regional elections, they will still choose Ebrahim as the chief minister.
“No one can still be compared (to him), we see the track record. It’s very clear that he has the most qualifications. The people still wanted Murad to lead,” Iqbal said during the press briefing after the assembly.
“We Bangsamoro (people) have a collective way of choosing our leader, no one said no to him,” he added.
A few months ago, a controversy emerged after South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., president of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the country’s ruling political party, claimed that Malacañang allegedly wanted to replace Ebrahim with Maguindanao del Norte Gov. Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua, chief of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the MILF’s armed wing.
Murad described it as “just noises in politics.”
Both Murad and Macacua also downplayed the issue and assured the public they still remain intact.
Macacua failed to attend Monday’s gathering as he had an engagement in Manila with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
‘Confident of winning’
Ebrahim appeared confident the “popular support” of their supporters and the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, the MILF’s political party, will lead them to victory in the May 2025 parliamentary elections.
“What we are securing now is to make sure we protect our votes and for them to be counted,” he said.
During the MILF assembly, its leaders gave updates to the normalization track of the Bangsamoro peace deal and its socio-economic packages. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
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